Skirt hanger



Nov. 7, 1950 J. v. ROWAN 2,528,788

SKIRT HANGER Filed April 16, 1949 uuuulu nun nu FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

INVENTOR JOHN V. ROWAN {I BY 7 ATTORNFY Patented Nov. 7. 1950 SKIRT HANGER John V. Rowan, University City, Mo., assignor to Lee-Rowan Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application'April 16, 1949, Serial No. 87,905

3 Claims. (01. 223-95) This invention relates to skirt hangers, its principal object being to produce a hanger which may be laterally adjusted to fit the waistband of any skirt; efiect gripping engagement therewith, and lock the hanger in this adjusted position, all in one operation. The greatest advantage of the invention is the saving of time and effort by making it possible to accomplish this simultaneously by merely exerting an upward pull on the hook by which the hanger is suspended when in use, another advantage being that the locking mechanism may be released, with consequent disengagement of the skirt from the hanger, by a light touch of the users finger. Other features of the invention are its simplicity and therefore low cost of manufacture, and the fact that it will give long service with ordinary usage.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front or rear elevation of the skirt hanger showing it in retracted condition in full lines and in operative, extended position in dash lines.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the skirt hanger shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, cross sectional view taken on line 3-3, Fig. 2, showing particularly the looking mechanism of the skirt hanger.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the mechanism for gripping the skirt band as shown in Fig. 1. I

The invention comprises a horizontal tubular member I having oppositely disposed apertures 2 in its upper and lower walls, said apertures being equidistant from the ends of the tubular member I. A vertical rod 3 is slidably positioned within the apertures 2 so that it extends above and below the tubular member I, and at its upper end the rod 3 terminates in a hook 4 by which the hanger may be suspended from a support (not shown) when in use.

A hollow element 5 is rigidly secured at the central portion of the tubular member I, the element 5 being substantially tubular but having a rounded upper end, which is apertured as at 6. The hollow element 5 is also apertured, as at I, in both its side walls to permit passage through said element 5 of the tubular member I. The apertures 2 f the tubular member I and the aperture '6 in the element are in alinement with each other, so that the rod 3 passes through and extends upwardly beyond the element 5 and downwardly beyond said element, as show clearly in Figs. 1 and 3.

A pair of horizontally extending rods 8, one on each side of the rod 3, are slidably positioned within the tubular member I. Each of the rods 8 is of such length as to extend from a point near the rod 3 outwardly a short distance beyond the tubular member I, at which point said rod 8 is bent at a right angle, as shown at 9, to provide a downwardly depending vertical portion I0, each portion it] being surrounded-by a casing II 0f rubber or any similar material which offers a good gripping surface.

Interiorly of the tubular member I and surrounding the rods 8 I provide a coil spring I2 which extends in its retracted condition the full length of said tubular member and protrudes slightly therefrom at each end, and at the right angle bend 9 of each rod 8 I attach a retaining clip I3, the respective outer ends of thecoil spring I2 being secured to said retaining clips to prevent displacement of said coil spring from the rods 8. r r

Within the upper portion of the hollow memher 5 a coil spring I4 surrounds the vertical rod 3, the upper end of the coil spring contacting the inside of the upper rounded wall of the element 5 and the lower end of said coil spring resting upon a lever I5 inside said element 5. The lever 5 I5 is provided with an aperture I5 which surrounds the rod 3 and is of slightly larger diameter than said rod, and said lever is of such length that one of its ends is positioned inside of the hollow member 5 and its opposite end ll protrudes outwardly beyond the element 5 through an aperture l8 in the wall of said element 5, the aperture I8 being of slightly greater diagonal direction when the device is in collapsed condition to the lowermost end of the rod 3, where they are pivoted to each other and also to the rod 3 by a pivot pin 2|, said pivot pin also extending through the rod 3 and being rigidly secured thereto. Both the upper and lower ends of the bars I9 are flattened, as shown in Fig. 1, to'

facilitate pivoting thereof. The lower portion of the rod 3 is surrounded by a coil spring 22 which rests upon the pivotally connected lower ends of the bars I9.

In operation the procedureis as follows: To secure a skirt to the hanger the ends of the 3 skirts waistband must first befastened together. The tubular member I is inserted horizontally into the skirt band and the hook 4 is then pulled in an upward direction, drawing up with it the ends of the bars l9 where they are pivoted at H, and as these pivoted ends move up the upper ends of said bars I9, through their pivotal connection with the portions l, exert an outward push on the outer ends of the rods 8. This operation is continued until the portions are extended to such a distance that they come into tight con,- tact with the waistband, where gripping engagement is effected between the waistband and the portions If! by virtue of the casing H on said portions [0, at which time the device will have as: sumed the position shown in dash lines in Fig. 1. The coil spring 22 is now in contracted condition and in contact with the tubular member I, and the coil spring l2 has been extended with the.- rods 8.

Theskirt and hanger are retained in the position just described by the gripping engagement between the rod 3 and the diagonal walls of the aperture l6 shown in Fig. 3, whereby the rod 3 is securely held in the raised position to which it has been drawn by the upward pull on the hook 4 as previously described, and the coil spring 22 has been contracted by the upward pull on the hook 4. With the parts in the position just described, the skirt hanger is in operative condition.

To release the skirt from the hanger, the above operation is reversed; that is to say, the lever I5 is pushed down, bringing the walls of its aperture into vertical position; this releases the rod 3, whereupon expansion of the spring 22 pushes ID from contact with the waistband, which is thus detached from the hanger.

At this point downward pressure on the lever I5 is released, whereupon pressure of the coil spring l4 upon said lever restores it to the inclined, locked position shown in Fig. 3.

- I claim:

1. A skirt hanger comprising a vertical, springcontrolled suspension member and a' hollow hori zontal member slidably engaged therewith,

4 V spring-controlled extension arms within said horizontal member and provided with skirt-gripping elements, pivoted connecting means between said extension arms and said suspension member, and a spring-controlled lock including an operating lever engaged with said suspension member, all of said parts being simultaneously operable upon sliding movement of said suspension member.

2. A skirt hanger comprising a horizontal tubular member and spring-controlled extension arms therein, a spring-controlled suspension member passing through said horizontal tubular member, gripping elements at the outer ends of said extension arms, upwardly diverging means pivotally connecting said gripping elements and said suspension member, and a spring-controlled lock associated with said suspension member, said skirt hanger being adapted to simultaneously.

adjust said extension arms to the waistband of a skirt, grip said waistband, and lock said hanger in adjusted position in a single operation.

3. A skirt hanger comprising a horizontal tubular member and spring-controlled extension arms therein, a vertical, spring-controlled suspension member passing through said horizontal tubular member, the outer ends of said extension arms being bent to provide elements for gripping the waistband of a skirt, a pair of rods pivotally connected to the lower end of said suspension member and pivoted, respectively, to said gripping elements, and locking mechanism including an element surrounding said suspension member and secured to said horizontal tubular member, and a spring-controlled lever in gripping engagement with said suspension member, said skirt hanger being adapted to simultaneously adjust said extension arms to the waistband of a skirt, grip said waistband, and lock said hanger in adjustedposition in a single operation. 7 c

7 JOHN V. ROWAN;

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED S ATES EA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 2,256,686 Penning Sept. 23, 1941 2,409,700 Loselle Oct. 22, 1946 2,488,072 Stewart Nov. 15, 1949 

